Schwalbe Marie, Satz Skye, Miceli Rachel, Hu Hang, Manelis Anna
School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Geriatrics (Basel). 2023 Feb 27;8(2):31. doi: 10.3390/geriatrics8020031.
The relationship between hand dexterity and inhibitory control across the lifespan is underexplored. In this pilot study, we examined inhibitory control using a modified Simon task. During the task, participants were presented with right- and left-pointing arrows located either on the right or the left parts of the screen. In the congruent trials, the arrow location and direction matched. In the incongruent trials, they mismatched, thus creating cognitive interference. In 50% of trials, the arrow presentation was accompanied by a task-irrelevant but environmentally meaningful sound that created perceptual interference. Hand dexterity was measured with the 9-hole peg test. Significantly faster reaction time (RT) on the modified Simon task ( < 0.001) was observed in younger adults, trials with concurrent sound stimuli, and congruent trials. Older adults who reported recent falls had greater difficulty resolving cognitive interference than older adults without recent falls. Hand dexterity significantly moderated the effect of sound on RT, but only in the group of older individuals. Interestingly, older individuals with reduced hand dexterity benefited from concurrent sounds more than those with better hand dexterity. Our findings suggest that task-irrelevant but environmentally meaningful sounds may increase alertness and enhance stimulus perception and recognition, thus improving motor performance in older individuals.
手部灵活性与一生中抑制控制之间的关系尚未得到充分研究。在这项初步研究中，我们使用改良的西蒙任务来检查抑制控制。在任务过程中，向参与者呈现位于屏幕右侧或左侧的向右和向左的箭头。在一致试验中，箭头位置和方向匹配。在不一致试验中，它们不匹配，从而产生认知干扰。在50%的试验中，箭头呈现伴随着与任务无关但具有环境意义的声音，这会产生感知干扰。使用9孔插板测试来测量手部灵活性。在年轻人、同时伴有声音刺激的试验以及一致试验中，观察到在改良西蒙任务上的反应时间（RT）显著更快（<0.001）。报告近期跌倒的老年人比没有近期跌倒的老年人在解决认知干扰方面有更大困难。手部灵活性显著调节了声音对反应时间的影响，但仅在老年人群体中。有趣的是，手部灵活性降低的老年人比手部灵活性较好的老年人从同时出现的声音中受益更多。我们的研究结果表明，与任务无关但具有环境意义的声音可能会提高警觉性，增强刺激感知和识别能力，从而改善老年人的运动表现。
